


Just Like Thunder Always Follows Rain

by WhatsYourNameMan



Series: It’s not Sunset Cis either [14]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: But Mostly Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Platonic Cuddling, Reggie Peters Has Bad Parents (Julie and The Phantoms), Sunset Trans isn’t at all relevant but it’s important to me, Thunderstorms, Trans Alex Mercer, Trans Character, Trans Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), Trans Reggie Peters, mentions of Julie’s mom’s death, mentions of Reggie’s parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 00:20:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28572909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhatsYourNameMan/pseuds/WhatsYourNameMan
Summary: Shortly after they start a run of “Finally Free,” the rain starts coming down harder. It’s harder to ignore, so she grabs her microphone and starts wandering around near her boys, letting their comforting presence reassure her. When she comes to Reggie, he smiles at her, but there’s something off in his eyes. She raises an eyebrow at him, but he just gives her a tiny shake of the head.Julie gets it, and she’s about to drop it, but suddenly there’s a deafening clap of thunder. Julie yelps and drops her mic, and Reggie disappears.
Relationships: Alex Mercer & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters, Bobby | Trevor Wilson & Reggie Peters, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: It’s not Sunset Cis either [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2022667
Comments: 13
Kudos: 237





	Just Like Thunder Always Follows Rain

**Author's Note:**

> Content warnings for a brief mention of Reggie’s bad parents and a discussion of Julie’s mom’s death. 
> 
> This one was requested by leapingoldfish on tumblr: “I'd love to see one of the boys get sad about whatever, and everyone comforts them in a big cuddle pile.”
> 
> Title from “Wild Child” by The Struts ft. Tom Morello.

They’re halfway through rehearsal when it starts to drizzle. Julie tries not to pay it any mind. Rain is rare in LA, and full-blown storms are even rarer. Chances are this is just a short burst that will fizzle out soon. She doubles down on the music, letting the band drown out the drops hitting the roof. 

Shortly after they start a run of “Finally Free,” the rain starts coming down harder. It’s harder to ignore, so she grabs her microphone and starts wandering around near her boys, letting their comforting presence reassure her. When she comes to Reggie, he smiles at her, but there’s something off in his eyes. She raises an eyebrow at him, but he just gives her a tiny shake of the head. _Not now._

Julie gets it, and she’s about to drop it, but suddenly there’s a deafening clap of thunder. Julie yelps and drops her mic, and Reggie disappears. 

“Shit,” Alex groans under his breath, and then he’s gone too. 

Luke is immediately at Julie’s side. “Are you okay, Jules?” 

Her hand finds his and holds it a little too tight. “I’m fine,” she manages, “It’s just—“ There’s another clap of thunder and Julie crushes Luke’s hand. Thank god he’s unbreakable.

“You don’t like thunderstorms, huh?” Luke asks, his voice soft. 

Julie avoids his eyes. “It’s stupid.”

Luke pulls her into a hug. “It’s not.” He pulls back and jerks his head towards the loft. “C’mere. I wanna show you something.”

Julie frowns, but she lets Luke pull to the ladder. He lets her go first, and she’s not sure why until there’s another boom a few steps up and his hands are immediately on her back to steady her. 

“It’s okay,” he murmurs. “I got you.”

Her heart fills with gratitude, even if the words to express it are caught in her throat. 

She reaches the top of the ladder and gasps at the scene before her. Reggie is on one of the beanbags in the corner, his knees pulled up to his chest and his forehead resting on top of them. He has an old set of headphones on, and Julie follows the cord down to a Walkman at his side. Alex moves around the loft, gathering blankets and pillows. Half of them, he places around Reggie, and the other half he uses to construct a fort. Alex notices Julie watching in awe and stops long enough to give her a small smile. 

“Reg doesn’t like storms either,” Luke explains. “Alex came up with this after the first really bad one we went through together.”

“Can—“ Julie clears her throat, trying to push past the lump lodged in it. “Can I join?”

“Of course, Jules,” Alex says. He wraps a blanket around her and guides her so she’s sitting next to Reggie. He gets back to work on the fort, and Luke joins him. 

Julie lays her head on Reggie’s shoulder, and he grabs her hand and gives it a quick squeeze. He pulls the headphone off his left ear and stretches it so Julie can place it over hers, their temples pressing together. 

Bruce Springsteen’s voice fills her ears.  
_You can hide ‘neath your covers and study your pain  
Make crosses from your lovers, throw roses in the rain._

“Thunder Road,” Julie notes quietly. 

The corner of Reggie’s mouth quirks up. “Bobby made this mixtape for me. It’s all about rain. I think it was supposed to be a joke, but it helps.” 

The two of them listen together in silence for a bit, eyes closed and letting Springsteen’s voice drown out the storm around them. As the song ends, Julie feels someone drop down next to her. She cracks her eyes open to find the loft transformed into a tranquil blanket world, covered in pillows and lit by some old string lights. Luke is next to her, nuzzling into her side, and Alex does the same for Reggie. 

“This is amazing,” she breathes. 

“We’ve had a lot of time to perfect it,” Alex shrugs. 

Reggie hushes them. Julie frowns, but can’t turn to look at him without jostling the headphones. She’s about to ask him why the unusual aggression, but then she hears it. 

Instead of the next track, seventeen-year-old Bobby’s voice speaks into her ear, sending chills down her spine. 

“ _Stay strong, buddy,_ ” he says. “ _You’ll make it through. You always have._ ”

Julie is struck with a wave of emotions she can’t quite process. The amount of love picked into this little mixtape is simply overwhelming, and somehow she was lucky enough to become a part of it. 

Of course, the moment is immediately ruined by the harsh opening riff of “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC. 

Reggie lets out a little chuckle and wipes a tear from his eye. “That’s my favorite part,” he whispers. 

Another clap of thunder rocks the studio, loud enough to overpower the music. Reggie and Julie both jump, clinging tighter to their bandmates. 

“Come on,” Alex chuckles. He lays down, and tugs Reggie down so the bassist’s head is on his chest. He gestures for Julie lay down on his other side, and she does, gladly. Luke follows and wraps himself around her from behind. Alex places one arm over Reggie and uses the other to comb through Julie’s hair. 

“You really are the best at cuddling,” Julie says, snuggling into his space heater of a body. 

“So I’ve been told,” Alex smirks. He reaches over Reggie to grab the Walkman and pulls the cassette out. He hands it to Luke, who pops it into a boom box behind his head. “Thunderstruck” continues, louder now and covering all four of them with its protection. 

They lay like that for a long time, listening to the music with Bobby’s encouraging interjections thrown in. The heat of her friends and Alex’s fingers in her hair are so soothing that she almost falls asleep, but each time she gets close she’s jolted back awake by another rumble. 

After a particularly big one, Reggie takes her hand. She looks up to find his big blue eyes staring directly at her. 

“I don’t like loud noises,” he admits, quietly. “Reminds me of home.” 

The way he says it, like it’s simply a fact of life instead of a horrible injustice, breaks Julie’s heart. She squeezes his hand, unable to find the words to express how sorrowful she is that the world has been so mean to someone as kind as Reggie. 

“And yet, he’s in a rock band,” Alex snorts, but he keeps his tone light. 

Reggie shrugs. “When I play, I have control over the noise.”

Julie feels Luke nods against the back of her neck. “You’re in charge of the thing that hurt you,” he says, like it makes all the sense in the world to him. 

Julie supposes it makes sense to her, too. “It gives you power.”

“Yeah,” Reggie nods. 

Julie falls silent, playing with the rings on Reggie’s hand. She knows she should share with the boys. After all, Reggie trusted her enough to share his fear, and his safety, with her. If she’s being honest, there’s not many places she would feel safer right now, aside from curled up in her parents’ arms. 

“I’m not really scared of the sound—“ There’s another boom, and she flinches. “Okay, maybe a little bit. But...” she takes a deep breath, “the night my mom died, there was a really big storm.” 

She hears the boys suck in their breath. 

“Julie...” Luke trails off, unsure how to finish the sentence. She’s not sure how she would have wanted him to finish it. 

“It’s just... a lot of the things that make me sad about it also have good things attached to them, you know? Like, it hurt to be in her studio, especially before I met you guys, but there’s also so many happy memories in here that it’s worth it to push past the pain. But thunderstorms are so rare. There’s just not enough happy memories to outweigh that one really awful world-shattering experience.”

Luke squeezes tighter around her. “I know we can’t erase that,” he says, “but maybe this can be a happy memory?” 

Julie looks around at her boys, and the beautiful little safe haven they’ve built, and she nods. “Yeah,” she says, “I think it can be.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are much appreciated! 
> 
> I’m wr0temyway0ut on Tumblr if you want to come chat about these ghosties or request a story. 
> 
> The “It’s not Sunset Cis either” playlist can be found [here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5Jhsn0cg0JZskwAGwc6ZXP?si=-SUrLQPgS_mbtwaUzl2tcQ%E2%80%9C)


End file.
